Basic Electrical Theory

Introduction
As a practicing electrician or as a student you have learnt a lot about
electrical theory.
This short course has been designed as a refresher course to remind
you about key aspects of basic electrical theory.
You may be about to take your 2382 exam or are studying hard for
Inspection and Testing 2394 and 2395. It may have been some while
since you last studied. This course can be studied in your own time
and at your own pace on your computer, tablet or smart phone. The
Electrical Theory Course is not long, you will complete it after only a
few hours of study.
At the end of the course you will have reminded yourself about all the
basic electrical theory you know and apply every day in your work.

Objectives
By the end of this course you should be able to:
Define the following terms and concepts:
Alternating Current

Prospective Short Circuit

Single Phase

TN-S, TN-C-S, TT (IT), TN-C

Earthing Systems

3 phase
Voltage
Power
Ohm's Law
Let through Energy
Short Circuit
Overload

MCB, RCD, MCCB

Voltage Drop
Power Factor
Phase Difference
Resistance
Inductance

Short Circuit
(Rupturing) Capacity

Explain the following:

Activation Curves (Fuse vs. MCB)
Discriminate between MCB/ Fuse
Discriminate between RCBs
De-rating of MCB/Fuses

Basic Electrical Terms

Current, Voltage, Resistance and
Power
Definitions
CURRENT
The flow of electrical charge measured in Amperes (A). Also
expressed in electrical formulas as (I).
VOLTAGE
An electromotive pressure, or electrical potential, that forces current
through a conductor, measured in Volts (V)
POWER
The flow of current at a voltage, which is measured in Watts (W)
RESISTANCE
A materials opposition to the flow of electric current, measured in
Ohms ()

Current
A circuit is made up of a power source, a conductive path, and a load
that will conduct the action the circuit was created to perform. The load
may be anything from a simple light bulb to a complex electrical grid.
The path that is created must be complete and unbroken and is made
of a material that must be able to conduct electricity, or is conductive.
Typically
these
conductors
are made of
copper.
Copper is
chosen for
its relatively
low cost and
low
resistance to
the flow of
current. The
power
source can
be anything from a single battery to a power plant.
Every atom of the conductor in a circuit consists of a positively
charged nucleus and negatively charged electrons. The nuclei are not
mobile, whereas the electrons, located outside of the nucleus of the
atom as single entities, are mobile. When a power source is not
applied, no electrical potential exists, and each atom of the metallic
conductor is neutrally charged.

Voltage
When a power source is applied, an electrical potential, or Voltage, is
created. The voltage has a positively charge side and a negatively
charged side. The negatively charged side creates an electromotive
force that drives all of the negatively charged electrons inside the
conductor to flow from the negative side towards the positively
charged side.

Each atom that is left void of an electron then becomes positively

charged. The flow of the positive charges that is created is called a
Current and is measured in Amperes.

Resistance - Definition
Every element has characteristics such as the density of particles that
dictate how easily the electrons are able to detach from their atoms
and move freely. The ease of this movement is directly proportional to
how well an element can allow the current to flow, or how conductive,
the element is. The inverse of this measurement is how resistive the
element is to the flow of current. This property is a fundamental
property of the element of the conductor.
It is called Resistance and is measured in Ohms ().

Electricity - Putting it Together

Electricity is often compared to water. The two mediums share similar
characteristics and since everyone can see, feel, and visualize water
and its properties, it is often used to explain electrical characteristics.
The concepts above can be explained very well using the visual aid of a
water pipe. The water pressure experienced at the ends of the pipe can
be compared to the Voltage applied at the ends of a circuit. This
pressure (which is high compared to the pressure at the other end of the
pipe) drives a flow of water through the pipe, similar to how Voltage
drives Current through a conductor.
The amount of water flowing through the pipe is dependent on two
factors: the size of the pipe and the pressure applied at the end of the
pipe. The smaller diameter the pipe, the higher the resistance is to flow,
therefore the less water that flows. In contrast, the higher the pressure,
the more water flows through the pipe. The size of the pipe can be
compared to a conductors Resistance, in which the higher the
resistance, the less Current can flow.

In addition, the amount of water leaving the pipe can be measured. This
property of the piping circuit is comparable to an electrical circuits
property of Power, measured in Watts (W).
As you can see, there is a distinct relationship between the waters
pressure, pipe diameter, flow, and water quantity. Just the same as
there is a direct relationship between an electrical circuits Voltage (V),
Resistance (R), Current (I), and Power (P).

Ohms Law
The direct relationship between current, voltage, and resistance was
first formulated by Georg Simon Ohm. The relationship is expressed
as what is most likely the most important law in any electrical
application, Ohms Law. From this law many other electrical laws can
be derived.
OHM S LAW
Voltage (V) = Current (I) x Resistance (R)
or V=IR
In addition, the following relationship was also defined
JOULES LAW
Power (P) = Voltage (V) x Current (I)
or P=VI
Substituting Voltage for Current x Resistance:
P=(I x R) x I
P=I2R
This law can be used to describe the heating effect of a conductor.

Example

EXAMPLE
1. Given the circuit above, find the resistance R
2. Using the same circuit, find the Power of the resistor R (Hint:
use the value of the resistance)

Answer - Click here

Example - Answer

EXAMPLE
1. Given the circuit above, find the resistance R
ANSWER
Voltage = Current X Resistance = IR
R = V/I = 50V/100mA = 50V/0.1A = 500 Ohms
R = 500
2. Using the same circuit, find the Power of the resistor R (Hint:
use the value of the resistance)
ANSWER
Power = Current2 X Resistance
P = I2 R
P = 0.10A X 0.10A X 500 Ohms = 5 Watts
P=5W

Resistance Triangle
If you are having trouble remembering Ohms law or applying it in
equations, it may be helpful to think of the three electrical properties as
a pyramid.
Voltage makes up the apex and is supported by current and
resistance. If you need to find one of the components, cover up the
required item.
So, if you need to find resistance, cover up the R, and resistance can
be seen to be V over I (V/I). If you need to find voltage, cover up the V
and voltage can be seen to be I X R.

Direct Current
Electrical power is created either by batteries or by coils rotating in a
magnetic field.
In general batteries are used to provide power to smaller and portable
loads which do not require large amounts of power. Anything powered
by a battery will receive a constant voltage that varies only with the
energy remaining in the battery (in some cases the voltage will remain
constant). The load will receive a Direct Current (DC). The focus of
this course is not on direct current loads and theories as the majority of
situations which an electrician will face use alternating current.

Alternating Current
Power is developed in large quantities by large, rotating machines. A
magnetic field rotates inducing a current that is sent over wires toward
the load. By nature, the rotating magnetic field creates a current that
alternates in value and direction. This is labeled Alternating Current
(AC) due to its alternating nature. All commercial and residential
distribution systems are powered off AC. The alternating current, when
passed through a load, also creates an alternating voltage. The graph
below shows the voltage of an alternating current circuit with respect to
time.
The y-axis is either voltage, current or power and the x-axis is time.
The amount of time it takes for the system to go through one cycle is
called the Period and is measured in time. The Frequency (f) of the
system describes how often the cycle is repeated, is measured in
cycles/second, or Hertz (Hz), and is computed using the formula
Frequency=1/Period.

Often, in order to promote better efficiency, a generator will use more

windings to create power and induce three varying voltages. Each of
these voltages are on three different lines and vary at the same
frequency, but are at different points of the cycle at the same time. This
is called three-phase power and will be discussed in great detail later
in this course. Single phase power is the term we use to describe a
power system in which all voltages vary in unison and will be used as
the example for discussion of more complex concepts.

AC - Single Phase
Not all loads are one hundred percent resistive. Most loads carry
components that are capacitive and inductive by nature. An inductor
resists a change in current due to an induced magnetic field around
the component. This causes the current to change slower than the
voltage, therefore causing the current to lag behind the voltage in an
alternating current system. A coil of wire itself has inductive properties
therefore any motor, long wire, or other object that has any sort of coil
has inductive properties associated with it.
A capacitor acts in the same manner but with voltage instead of
current. It stores electrical charge between charged plates and takes a
finite amount of time to charge and discharge. This effect causes
current to lead voltage, or voltage to lag behind current in an alternating
current environment. If a component is purely resistive (very few
components are), voltage and current vary in unison and are at the
value of 0 at the exact same time. The voltage and current values over
time of a purely resistive component are demonstrated below.

Power Factor
In order to describe the relationship between voltage and current in an
AC circuit, a variable, , was defined. Is the difference, in degrees,
in the phase of the current with respect to voltage. A positive value
indicates that the current is lagging behind the voltage. A negative
value indicates that the current is leading voltage. Graph below
demonstrates an AC system that has a of 60 because the current is
lagging voltage by 60.

Power Factor is mathematically calculated by computing the absolute

value of the cosine of . Purely resistive components have a power
factor of 1.0 (=0), purely inductive components have a power factor of
0 (=90) and purely capacitive components have a power factor of 0
(=90). If negative values are computed (cosine (45)=0.707), the
absolute value is taken and the power factor will actually be 0.707
lagging. On AC-Single Phase previously the power factor is 1.0. On
this page the power factor is 0.5 leading.
AC power flow has the three components: real power (P), measured in
watts; apparent power (S), measured in volt-amperes (VA); and
reactive power (Q), measured in reactive volt-amperes (VAR).
Real power is the capacity of the circuit for performing work in a
particular time. Apparent power is the product of the current and
voltage of the circuit. Due to energy stored in the load and returned to
the source, depending on the power factor, the apparent power can be
greater than the real power.
Power Factor can also be expressed in the following terms:
Power Factor = cos() = Real Power(P)/Apparent Power(S)
P=S x cos()

Power Triangle
A very good way to visually represent the values of P, S, and Q is by
graphing the value of P on the horizontal axis and the value of Q on the
vertical axis.
The hypotenuse is the result of the equation S2+ Q2=P (True Power).
As you can see, as the power factor is increased (1 to 2), S is
decreased and Q is increased. This is a very important concept
because most power is measured in True Power but the actual power
that is delivered is Apparent Power. If not taken into consideration, it
could become very costly to supply the needed amount of True Power
with a very large power factor.

Voltage Drop
When current flows across an object with resistance, the voltage will
decrease when compared to either side of the load. Using the water
pipe as an example, it is obvious that the pressure at the end of the
pipe is much less than at the beginning. This phenomenon, also
occurring in the electrical world, is used to determine what the voltage
will be when a load is place in a circuit. It must be taken in
consideration when designing a circuit.
Volt Drop is a property of a cable/wire which describes how much the
voltage will drop per amp per meter when current is run through it. It is
an inherent property of the cable that is essentially another way to
calculate resistance.

Voltage Drop - Examples

Example: Assume you are designing a circuit in which you have a
cable that is providing power to a load. The cable is a 2.5mm2 cable
which has a current rating of
18.5 amps. The Volt Drop for the cable is 18 mV/A/m. Calculate the
voltage at the load if the load current is 16.0 A and 50 m long.
Solution:
The Voltage Drop would be .018V/A/m x 50m x 16.0A = 14.4 V
How could this be applied? According to Table 4Ab in Appendix 4
Section 6.4 of BS 7671, the Voltage to a lighting component from a
private power supply can be no more than 10% above or 6% below the
rated voltage of 230V. 6% below is a drop of 13.8V to 216.2V. This
means that our component will only receive 230V-14.4V or 215.6V
due to the voltage drop across the conductor. This is below the
minimum and must be corrected by changing the wire. What
properties of the wire can we change?
We can either make the wire shorter (length) or larger (diameter) and
affect the Voltage Drop across the wire. The common values for the
voltage drop is located in Table 4D1B.
Example: Using the above mentioned problem and Table 4D1B,
change the wire length such that the voltage received is within the
specifications of +10% or -6%, or change the wire size.
Solution: Changing the wire length such that the voltage drop was
only 6% is calculated by:
6% x 230V = 13.8V.
13.8V/(16.0A x 18mV/m/A) = 47.92 meters (or shorter)
If the wire were to be changed, the new Voltage Drop property would
have to be
13.8V/(50m x 16A) = 17.25mV/m/A or lower. A wire such as a
4.0mm2 will have a property of 11mV/m/A, which would be suitable in
this case.

AC - Three Phase
As stated earlier, a much more efficient way of transmitting power is
through three lines that come from the same machine instead of one. In
order for this to happen, all three lines must be 120 out of phase from
each other. It is important to remember that there are three separate
transmission lines, each carrying the same voltage and current, but
each is 120 out of phase from each other. Figures below are a typical
single phase waveform and a typical 3-phase waveform.

3 Phase Power
Prior to explaining the concept of three-phase power, Root Means
Squared values must be explained. If one were to calculate the
average voltage or current of a system, the value would be zero since
they both oscillate from +V to V. Instead, the average value is
calculated using the root means squared method in which the formula:
VRMS = VPk x 1/2
Where VRMS is the RMS Voltage and VPk is the peak voltage of the
circuit. The same equation applies to the current of a circuit. The RMS
value is a good standard to approximate the average voltage or
current in AC form and is the value used whenever voltage and current
are discussed or used in a calculation. The standard distribution
voltage (VRMS ) in the UK is 230V. The peak voltage that occurs at
any point in that circuit is 230V x 2 = 325V. It is to be remembered
that from this point on, the RMS value of voltage will be used when
discussing alternating current systems.
The equation used for calculating the power of a single phase of a
component is:
P = V x I x cos()
Where V is the phase voltage and I is the phase current. is the
phase difference
between current and voltage on that same wire.
The way that 3-phase power is calculated is different than single phase
power, however, the theory is the same. Since 3-phase power involves
three separate lines supplying the same load, we must combine all
three powers to calculate the actual total power delivered to the load.

3 Phase Power Calculation

It is important to understand that in three-phase power there are two
ways of measuring voltage. The first way to measure the voltage of a
phase is to compare it to a neutral wire, or a wire that has no potential.
This is the same value that a single- phase wire will have because it is
being compared to a wire with zero voltage. The name for this is the
phase Voltage or VPh. The voltage can also be compared to the
voltage of another phase in the three-phase circuit. This voltage is
called the line
Voltage or Vline. It should be apparent that the line voltage will be
higher than the phase voltage because there is a larger difference
between the two voltages when compared to the difference between a
single voltage and neutral ground. The relationship between the two
voltages is as follows:
3 VPh = Vline
In order to calculate the power for a three-phase system, the power for
each phase is calculated and then added together to make the
equation:
3 x 3 x VPh x IPh x cos() = PTotal or
3 x Vline x IPh x cos() = PTotal

Short Circuit Faults

Definition: An unwanted low-resistance connection between two
points in an electric circuit.
When a short circuit occurs, the potential for extreme damage, fire,
and possible electrocution exists. Devices were contrived to contain or
eliminate the damage by interrupting the circuit prior to a current
getting to a value high enough to cause that damage.
The question faced by all personnel in the electrical field is: What type
and size of current interrupter do I need? This must be answered by
first examining the circuit itself.
To start, the prospective short-circuit current must be known in order to
choose the correct size device. The current that trips the device is
called the fault current. If a circuit is to be properly protected, the fault
current must be high enough to operate the protective device within as
short a time as possible. This ensures the current will not reach the
value in which damage occurs. Secondly, the protective device must
be able to withstand the fault current and extinguish any resulting arcs
without itself being destroyed or causing the arc to be sustained.

Fault Trace
Below is a diagram of a typical fault trace. Once the maximum
prospective fault current is known, a graph such as below can be
drawn.
In the graph, t=0 is the time in which the short circuit or fault occurs. It
takes a finite amount of time for the current to reach the fault current of
the protective device and trip the contacts that will eventually open the
circuit.
This time is reflected between the times t=0 and t=tx. At time tx, the
contacts start opening and at time t1, the circuit opens.
The current at this point is called the cut-off current and is the highest
current the device and related circuitry should experience due to the
opening of the contacts.
The circuitry may see a higher current, but that is due to the latent
inductance of circuits and is usually negligible.
Time t2 is the point at which the circuit is open and the current has
extinguished to 0. The energy that was passed through the
overprotection device between the times t=0 and t= t2 is called the
total energy let-through and should not exceed the amount of energy
required to damage the overprotection device.

Protective Devices
The choice of which type of protective device to use for a circuit is
dependent on the type of overcurrent condition that is expected.
There are three general types of devices; a
1. Miniature Circuit Breaker, or M.C.B.
The M.C.B. is used to protect cables and equipment against
overloads and short
2. Fuse
A fuse is used to protect cables and equipment against high
short circuit currents.
3. Residual Current Device or R.C.D
The R.C.D. is used to protect people against electric shock and
buildings against fire.
Each one of these has its own advantages and disadvantages and, if
correctly applied, can guard against a variety of possible overcurrent
conditions. There are also situations in which a combination of
protective devices can overcome the disadvantages of each other,
which will be discussed in detail.

Miniature Circuit Breaker

Below is a diagram of a typical MCB. An MCB operates on both a
magnetic coil and a bi-metallic strip. The bi-metallic strip guards
against overload and the magnetic coil guards against short circuit.

There are three types of MCBs. Type B, type C, and type D are all
chosen for their distinct characteristics and applications. The graph
below displays the different types and their response times to different
protective situations. The speed at which protective devices must
open is dictated by Table 41.1 of BS7671.

Type B : for protection of

electrical circuits with
equipment that does not cause
s urge current (lighting and
distribution circuits ) Short
circuit release is set to (3-5) In
Type C: for protection of
electrical circuits with
equipment that causes s urge
current (inductive loads and
motor circuits ) Short circuit
release is set to (5-10) In
Type D: for protection of
electrical circuits which causes
high inrush current, typically 1215 times the thermal rated
current (trans formers ,X-ray
machines etc.)Short circuit
release is set to (10-20) In

MCB or Fuse?
As stated before, there are different types of situations and each
require specific protective devices. The situation already discussed
before, a short circuit, is characterized by a sudden, quick, and large
spike in current. It usually occurs when there is a direct contact from
Live to Neutral, Live to Earth, or Phase to Phase (3 phase system).
This is normally caused by cutting with a knife, spade, axe etc. This
situation is protected by an MCB with the magnetic coil shown
previously.
In addition to a short circuit, another protective situation is an overload
in which for some reason (load too high, improperly designed circuit,
etc.) there is a current flowing through the circuit consistently over the
rated capacity of the circuit. If a case like this occurs, the magnetic coil
will not necessarily trip. A bimetallic strip is designed to protect
against an overload situation inside the MCB. The high current causes
the bi-metallic strip to curve and the circuit to be broken.
In some situations such as a very high current spike, the bimetallic strip
may melt and fuse to the contact, rendering it useless and actually
promoting damage. For situation such as these, a fuse is usually the
best option. The following table outlines the advantages and
disadvantages of fuses and MCBs.
Miniature circuit breaker
Advantage

Disadvantage

Unit can easily Low short-circuit

be reset after a capacity (6KAtrip and after the 10KA)
fault has been
rectified

Fuse
Advantage

Disadvantage

High short circuit Fuse has to be

capacity,
replaced after
normally up to
electrical fault
100KA

Due to the unique advantages and disadvantages of MCBs and fuses,

often MCBs and fuses are used in series to provide adequate
protection to a circuit. Provided that discrimination is achieved
between the two devices, the MCB should always trip prior to the fuse
tripping.

Discrimination
Discrimination is the term given to the notion that a properly designed
circuit will trip the protective device closest to the load causing the
situation. This maintains the continuity of power to the other devices on
the circuit that have not created an overcurrent situation.
In other words, discrimination is only achieved when ONLY the
downstream protective device interrupts under fault but the upstream
device remains uninterrupted. In the figure below discrimination is
achieved since the downstream device tripped under fault and the
upstream device remained uninterrupted. The other two loads have
maintained power since they have not caused any faults.

When designing circuits, it is important to plan for discrimination. In

order to do this, one must know the total let-through energy of a
protective device. It is vital that the total let-through energy of the
downstream device is LESS than the pre-arc energy of the upstream
device. In other words, the amount of energy that is released by the arc
that is created by the downstream device cannot be enough to trip the
upstream device.

Let-through energy
The graph below demonstrates the concept of let-through energy. In
this demonstration, device D will not discriminate against device B
or device C but it WILL discriminate against device A since the letthrough current is not enough to trip the device (less than the pre-arc
current).

Activation curves
Specifically, if the Type C MCB were used, a graph such as Figure
(19) should be used to assist in the determination of discrimination.
This graph describes the characteristics of a Type C MCB with
respect to the time it takes to trip the MCB and the current flowing
through it. If one were to decide which fuse to use to achieve
discrimination, the fuse characteristics would be placed on the graph
of the MCB and should look like the graph below.
In addition to the process mentioned above, there are other ways that
discrimination can be achieved. Ampermetric discrimination is
achieved by regulating current levels, which is very similar to energetic
discrimination. Energetic discrimination is the process described
above in detail using energy let through as the discriminating factor.
Time can be used to achieve discriminating (chronametric), as well as
electronically using logic circuits (logic). The most common, by far, is
the energetic form of discrimination.

Earthing systems
Earthing systems are used for electrical safety. In the UK, there are
essentially three types of earthing systems. All three have five distinct
lines. The three power lines, L1, L2, L3, are three phases of the same
voltage. The other two lines are the neutral line and the protective earth
line. The protective earth line is connected to all metal components
(water pipes, gas pipes, etc.) inside the distribution site and is
connected to the earth. The neutral line is required to have zero
potential when compared to the earth.
There are three common earthing systems in the UK. The first type is
the TN-S earthing system. The TN-S earthing system connects the
neutral and protective earth lines as close to the source of power as
possible. Between to the source of power and the installation,
however, there is no connection between the neutral and the protective
earth. The main earthing in this case is provided via the cables
armouring or sheath.
The second system is the TN-C-S system. The main difference
between this and the TN-S system is that this system connects the
neutral line and the protective earth line at the installation and the
source and many places in between. This concept is defined as
protective multiple earthing (PME). There is a slight possibility that in
this system the neutral and ground get broken up and a potential exists
between the two at some points in the system, but this possibility is so
remote it is almost considered non-existent.
The third system is quite different than the TN-S and TN-C-S systems.
It is called the TT system and is characterized by a lack of earthing of
the neutral to the protective earth except at the source. The protective
earth line at the installation is connected to earth usually by an earth
electrode stake. At the source and only at the source, the neutral is
connected directly to the earth. Power transmitted through the L lines is
transmitted overhead. Earthing is accomplished via a residual current
device (RCD).

Residual Current Device

A Residual Current Device is a device that disconnects a circuit
anytime a current is higher on the hot line than it is in the neutral line.
The lack of balance between the neutral phase and the hot phase
indicates that current is leaking somewhere, possibly through the body
of a person. A picture of a typical RCD is below.

The RCDs operate by measuring the difference between the neutral

and hot lines with a differential transformer. If a current difference (a
balance fault) exists, the contacts are opened and the device interrupts
current to the faulting component. The reason for an RCDs existence
is because the leakage current that can present a hazard to personnel
is often far smaller than the large tripping current of main breakers. A
current on the order of 5-30 mA can be lethal whereas most main
breakers trip on the order of amps. In addition, RCDs are designed to
trip quickly (milliseconds) enough to prevent any damage from
occurring to the human being. The secondary function of an RCD is to
prevent fires due to earth leakage current.

RCD Operation
A very basic drawing of how an RCD is tripped is included in the
diagram below and the flowchart outlines the current requirements for
RCDs in different areas.

The only way to discriminate between RCDs is via operating time and
not by sensitivity. Current differences between RCDs are too small to
achieve discrimination. The exemplifies this concept.
It is only possible to discriminate between RCDs by operating time,
not by sensitivity.
In the above case, the up-stream RCD has a maximum operating time
of 30 milliseconds. In order to achieve discrimination, the up-stream
RCD must be delayed by (normally) 50 milliseconds. i.e. operates in
80 milliseconds.

RCD Discrimination
The only way to discriminate between RCDs is via operating time and
not by sensitivity. Current differences between RCDs are too small to
achieve discrimination. The image below exemplifies this concept.

In the above case, the up-stream RCD has a maximum operating time
of 30 milliseconds. In order to achieve discrimination, the up-stream
RCD must be delayed by (normally) 50 milliseconds. i.e. operates in
80 milliseconds.

Breaker de-rating
All circuit breakers are rated with respect to the requirements set forth
in the IEE standards. Environmental changes may cause a breaker to
exhibit characteristics that were not designed for in the original circuit.
If this is the case, a breaker must be de-rated and the design table
consulted to factor the environmental characteristics into the redesign
of the circuit.
The following conditions, if changed, would cause a breaker to be derated:

Ambient Temperature (Ca)

Thermal Insulation (Ci)
Grouping (Cg)
Operating Temperature of the Conductor (Ct)
Humidity
Altitude
Supply Voltage
Vibration

Conclusion
You have now completed this short Electrical Theory refresher course.
You should be able to define and explain the following. Click on any of
the terms below for quick access to the relevant part of the course.
Define the following terms and concepts:
Alternating Current

Prospective Short Circuit

Single Phase

TN-S, TN-C-S, TT (IT), TN-C

Earthing Systems

3 phase
Voltage
Power
Ohm's Law
Let through Energy
Short Circuit
Overload

MCB, RCD, MCCB

Voltage Drop
Power Factor
Phase Difference
Resistance
Inductance

Short Circuit
(Rupturing) Capacity

Explain the following:

Activation Curves (Fuse vs. MCB)
Discriminate between MCB/ Fuse
Discriminate between RCBs
De-rating of MCB/Fuses